Saturday, November 26, 2016

This month the skies of L.A. have continued to be filled with billboards for new shows, returning favourites and a variety of awards season ads hoping to garner support for industry accolades like the Golden Globes, SAG Awards and Critics' Choice Awards. Here's a selection of the super-sized and standard billboards trying to turn heads this November 2016 in the City of Angels.

TV billboards

First up is another giant-sized billboard for HBO's captivating sci-fi A.I. Western drama, Westworld. If you like this eye-catching iris ad creative, be sure to also check out all theVitruvian Woman billboards for Westworld which marked the show's launch.

Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery was also receiving the super-sized treatment with this billboard on the side of the Sunset Strip's Andaz Hotel for her new TNT crime drama, Good Behavior.

The National Geographic Channel's mission to Mars was also getting some massive support this month on the side of the Sofitel Hotel along Beverly Boulevard.

YouTube Red continues to pump out original content, this time the animated series Paranormal Action Squad was receiving some huge promotion along the heavily trafficked Sunset Strip.

And after teasing us for months with these America's Next Top Model billboards, the rebooted show is finally ready for its twenty-third season with new celebrity host Rita Ora.
Meanwhile as the holiday season approaches it's almost time for NBC's annual live musical TV events, with this year's offering being Hairspray Live! There's never been a better time for an uplifting tale about racial integration and tolerance.

Amazon Prime was also gearing up to debut its new motoring show, The Grand Tour, with the three presenter friends from BBC's Top Gear at the wheel.

Over in Hollywood this striking heart organ wall mural ad really stood out for Fusion's new investigate journalism series The Traffickers, about global black markets dealing in organs, people, endangered species, fake drugs and more.

Over on Showtime the relationship drama The Affair was back for a third season told from many different perspectives.

Plus I also spied additional ad creatives for the second half of History's Vikings fourth season.

From Viking kings to the British monarchy, and E!'s soapy drama The Royals with Elizabeth Hurley was back in the skies promoting its third season.

For its new dark comedy, Search Party, TBS was channeling the teen sleuth 'Nancy Drew' with a few contemporary updates, like a smartphone instead of a flashlight.

And Syfy was imagining a future where global companies and mega-corporations ruled with these Incorporated series launch billboards.

This month Netflix brought its Gilmore Girls revival to the small screen just in time to be binge-watched over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

And Lip Sync Battle was back for a third season of celebrity faux sing-offs with these billboards at Sunset & Vine.

Reality TV show Wahlburgers following MarkWahlberg's family antics was also back for a seventh season this month.

Meanwhile Go90 was another new streaming service offering originals series, like this Cold outdoor ad for the show about a teenager investigating brutal crimes, which reminds me a bit of this OutsidersTV billboard.

Whilst Go90's Mr. Student Body President is a dark comedy about a boy who will let nothing stand in the way of his political aspirations.

And speaking of presidents, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah summed up this election season with this 'series finale of America' ad creative. Who knew that the reality would be a bigger joke than all these satirical news shows.

Plus Stephen Colbert was on hand to handle the live election result, which turned from comedy into tragedy as America dug itself into a hellish situation.

From democracy to the British Monarchy, and Netflix's new drama, The Crown, about the ascension to the throne and reign of Queen Elizabeth II is a royal delight (and I for one can't wait for the second season of the illuminating series).

And speaking of crown's and Tracey Ullman was back with a new BBC comedy sketch show on HBO full of great characters.

Billy Eichner was back for a fifth season of Billy on the Street, accompanied by famous celebrities as he interviews people on the streets of New York City.

In the world of stand-up comedy Wayne's World's Dana Carvey was back in a new Netflix special, although Straight White Male, 60, sounds like the voting demographic that elected Trump, which is no joke.

Plus over on HBO Pete Holmes was showing off his many Faces and Sounds in his new comedy special.

Plus comedian Russell Simmons was bringing back an All Def Comedy urban stand-up special to HBO this November.

This Thanksgiving The Simpsons were also bringing the laughs with a TV marathon event on FXX, celebrating the animated series 600 plus episode run.

Meanwhile TNT's Animal Kingdom TV remake was the first billboard I spied this month proactively campaigning for TV industry votes and recognition.AMC's Breaking Bad spin-off prequel series, Better Call Saul, was also getting some out-of-home support for its sophomore season.

In addition, Hugh Laurie was also in the spotlight as part of Hulu's FYC awards campaign for his new drama Chance.

And the streaming service's cult drama, The Path, was also in the skies along the Sunset Strip with this ad creative.

Epix also entered the scripted drama arena this year with spy thriller Berlin Station (along with political comedy Graves) and is obviously hoping for some recognition.

Last Summer's critical darling, Mr. Robot, took home Golden Globes and Emmys for its first season, so can it repeat its awards success for its sophomore season?

And finally, can this giant-sized ad creative for Starz popular Outlander adaptation series help the time-traveling drama take home some awards this season. Fans of the series can also enjoy all these original costumes from Outlander's first two seasons on display.

These days it seems impossible to watch the sheer onslaught of comedy, drama or docu-series available on cable, network and streaming services. That's why billboards like these are so important to raise the profile of the shows and grab passersby attention for at least a few fleeting seconds.